The present invention relates to motor vehicles and the like, and in particular to a structural door beam therefor having an integrated reinforcement feature to avoid inadvertent activation of a vehicle motion sensor mounted on the door beam.
Structural door beams are designed to protect vehicle occupants from injury during a side impact collision. When properly designed, the structural door beam should have high rigidity in a direction transverse to the direction of the force applied during a side impact automobile collision. Frequently, the structural door beams carry a vehicle motion sensor that detects impact. The motion sensor relays a signal to an inflation device activating one or more air bags to protect occupants inside the vehicle. A problem that sometimes occurs is that the motion sensor will interpret vehicle vibrations, such as those generated by the vehicle's sound system, as a collision, and subsequently activate the inflation device and the associated air bags. Inadvertent activation of the air bags is dangerous to automobile occupants, and is expensive to repair. Consequently, a structural door beam that provides reinforcement to the portion of the structural door beam that carries the vehicle motion sensor, maintains the structural integrity of the door to meet safety requirements, yet adds no significant cost to manufacture, would be advantageous and would represent a significant advancement in door beam technology.